


County Fair

by AliciaSinCiudad



Series: Tumblr-prompt stand-alones [4]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Americana, County Fairs, Fluff, Junk Food - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 04:39:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11395515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliciaSinCiudad/pseuds/AliciaSinCiudad
Summary: In which Cassian and Bodhi go on their first undercover mission together - to a county fair.





	County Fair

It was Bodhi and Cassian’s first stealth mission together. Cassian was nervous. He was used to working alone, or at most, with K-2SO, and even the droid he usually asked to wait in the ship. When he worked alone, the only life he directly risked was his own, and he could live with that risk. There had been days (more than he liked to admit) when he had half hoped he wouldn’t make it back, having grown tired of his crimes going unanswered. But with Bodhi, Jyn, and the others, he suddenly had people who would actually miss him if he were gone. And even worse, with Bodhi at his side, he could directly cause the death of the one man crazy enough to actually fall in love with him, the one man Cassian had been crazy enough to love back.

He reached for Bodhi’s hand, and Bodhi squeezed reassuringly. They had decided that their fake identities would include being a couple, for verisimilitude, as well as the opportunity to whisper important secrets to each other while looking like they was just murmuring sweet nothings. At least, that was how Cassian had presented it to his handler. He hadn’t mentioned that he was still unable to believe that this was real, that he actually had a romantic partner, and one as amazing as Bodhi no less, and he didn’t want to miss a single opportunity to kiss the man.

Bodhi leaned in close to Cassian. “We’ll be fine,” he whispered, his hot breath tickling Cassian’s ear. It would have been unpleasant, considering how humid the night was, but the sweetness of his words far outweighed any physical discomfort. Cassian tried to smile, but he couldn’t quite manage it, and it came out more like a nervous twitch.

Their contact was waiting for them in a cross between a market and… well… Cassian didn’t really have the context to compare it with anything. There were stalls everywhere, mostly selling food and drink, and some with games of chance which everyone seemed to know were rigged, and yet played anyway. There were giant mechanical structures that you could enter, and be moved around at varying speeds, which people actually paid to experience. The contact would be selling something sweet, but Cassian couldn’t remember the name of the confection, so their only option was to go from stall to stall buying sweets and asking the coded question: “Is this gluten free?” If the vendor replied “No, but it’s organic and high in anti-oxidants,” then they would know they had found the right person.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of stalls selling sweets.

A cotton candy, an ice cream cone, a lemonade, and a slushie later, Cassian was beginning to feel jittery. He had a fairly high tolerance for sugar – sugar and caf had gotten him through many a late-night stake-out – but it was being tested. Bodhi seemed gigglier than usual as well. He kept catching Cassian off-guard with surreptitious little kisses, which was not helping Cassian’s concentration.

“I’m going to win you one of those stuffed tauntauns,” Bodhi whispered, grinning.

“The games are rigged, it’s a waste of credits. I mean, of dollars.”

“Yeah, but I’m a really good gambler. Have I ever told you about the time I won three crates of bellberry wine on bluffing alone?”

“You have. Many times. Only it used to be two crates. Let’s focus.”

“Ooh!” Bodhi gasped. “Look at that!” He pointed to a giant metal wheel with little metal pods attached to it at evenly-spaced points. There were people sitting in said pods, seemingly undisturbed by the fact that they were swinging dangerously, and very insecurely attached. Surely, Bodhi was enough of a mechanic to realize what a death trap the thing was. “Let’s ride it!”

“I fail to see how that will help us on our, um, goal.” He had almost said the word _mission_ out loud. _Concentrate,_ he told himself.

Bodhi tugged at Cassian’s hand, which he just now realized had been shaking. Bodhi’s hands weren’t shaking, but he was tapping his foot, and his eyes looked far too bright. “We’ll be able to see the whole grounds from here. So we can spot any other stalls we should visit. Plus, it’s _romantic._ ”

“It’s shoddily engineered.”

“Ca- Diego Willix, are you telling me you’re afraid of heights?” Bodhi was not doing much better than Cassian if he’d almost let his real name slip out.

“No, _Rizwan_ ,” Cassian replied, emphasizing Bodhi’s code-name in what he hoped was a mild rebuke, and not a desperate plea. “I just – I don’t think –”

“You are! You’re afraid of heights! Oh, this is rich. A pilot who’s afraid –”

“Ok, ok, we’ll ride the damned thing! But you’re paying for it.”

Cassian tried not to let his nervousness show as they waited in line. He kept glancing around him, hoping to find some clue of where they were meant to go. Suddenly, it came to him. “Elephant ears!” he shouted. He got a few odd looks, and he realized he might have shouted a bit louder than he’d meant to.

“My ears are perfectly normal-sized, thank you very much,” Bodhi replied.

“No, we should buy elephant ears.”

“That sounds disgusting.” Bodhi made a face.

“Actually, they’re delicious.” Cassian turned to see a woman about his age with two young children. “They sound terrible, but they’re so good, it’s almost sinful. Something about the smell of fried dough and the taste of all that sugar just makes me feel like a kid again.” The two kids nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “What do you say, kiddos, should we get an elephant ear after we ride the ferris wheel?”

“Yes, Aunt Lucy, you’re the best!” they shouted in unison.

The woman chuckled. “That’s the best thing about being an aunt. I can get them all hopped up on sugar, and just when they’re about to explode, I send them right back to their parents. The perfect revenge for being bossed around by my older sister for eighteen years.”

“We love you Aunt Lucy!” the small co-conspirators shouted in a joyful sing-song.

“Alright Bo- _Rizwan._ Let’s go get some elephant ears. I think they might be organic.”

“Borizwan,” the woman mused. “What kind of a name is that?”

“Um, it’s foreign,” Cassian said quickly, and dragged Bodhi out of the line and towards a stall advertising Elephant Ears, Funnel Cakes, and Churros.

“Are the elephant ears gluten free?” Cassian asked when they’d gotten to the stall.

The vendor rolled her eyes. “No. But they’re organic and high in anti-oxidants. _Very_ heart-healthy.”

Cassian’s hands shook as he handed over the bills of local currency as well as a small slip of paper.

The vendor gave him an odd look. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Just – really excited about the organic elephant ears. My partner here –” Suddenly, Cassian realized that Bodhi was gone. Apparently, he’d gotten back in line while Cassian had been distracted, as he was now in one of those horribly unsafe swinging pods with the woman and two small children, telling them who knows what and making them laugh uproariously. Cassian cursed to himself in festán.

The vendor handed him a plate with a giant slab of fried dough, covered in more sugar than a person should consume in a whole day. She added a ridged cylinder as well, this one covered in both sugar and cinnamon. “An extra churro for your troubles,” she said out loud, then muttered “It’s a two part message. One piece in each pastry.”

So Cassian was going to have to actually eat them. And alone, it looked like. He found a bench to wait for Bodhi, and slowly started eating. If only he’d remembered the name of the food earlier. At least it was warm, and it really did taste amazing. As he nibbled, he made a mental note to get them both checked for diabetes as soon as he got back on base.

**Author's Note:**

> From the otp-isms tumblr:
> 
> OTP Idea #100  
> Imagine your OTP going to a carnival together and getting sugar high on cotton candy and ice cream.


End file.
